Light rail tunnel in downtown Bellevue gets another look

By SCOTT GUTIERREZ, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Updated 10:00 pm, Thursday, April 8, 2010

Bellevue's wish for a downtown light rail tunnel may get another chance with Sound Transit.

Sound Transit's governing board will be asked this month to consider choosing a new preferred route for the Eastlink Light Rail project from one of two newer options -- one that would tunnel beneath 110th Avenue Northeast in downtown. The Bellevue City Council wants a tunnel to keep trains separated from traffic in the central business district and reiterated its position with a vote and letter to Sound Transit last month.

Sound Transit's board currently backs a route that does not include the tunnel, which until recently was seen as too expensive. An initial design for a tunnel beneath 108th Avenue Northeast was projected to add $500 million to the project.

But Sound Transit staff re-engineered the tunnel design, coming up with a smaller tunnel under 110th that would cost about $320 million. Last month, the Bellevue City Council pledged to contribute $100-$150 million, mostly from one-time tax revenues to the city from the light rail project, streamlined permitting, and providing city right-of-way at no cost.

Now, two newer designs for the Bellevue route-- one that includes a less expensive tunnel option and a second with a more efficient route to downtown -- are gaining momentum.

Sound Transit's current preferred route exits Interstate 90 along Bellevue Way Southeast and run north through the Surrey Downs neighborhood, while stopping at an expanded South Bellevue Park & Ride. Around Southeast Eighth Street, its elevated track would curve wide to the right and swing back to Main Street. There, it would connect with an at-grade couplet through downtown before shooting east across Interstate 405 towards Redmond.

A new design for the South Bellevue route, presented Thursday during Sound Transit's Capital Committee meeting, would provide a more direct route to downtown from Bellevue Way Southeast onto 112th Avenue Southeast, where trains would continue mostly at-grade to Main Street. Instead of entering a couplet, as Sound Transit currently prefers, trains would roll down 108th Avenue Northeast at-grade and serve two stations -- one at Main Street and 108th and the other at the downtown Bellevue transit center.

The new route proposal could shave $50-$100 million from construction costs because it's shorter, more direct, and relies much less on elevated tracks, according to a staff report.

It was developed last fall as engineers sought ways to save due to the recession starving Sound Transit's reserves for the $2.4 billion project and eating up $30 million budgeted for work.

Committee chairman Fred Butler, an Issaquah city councilman, said Thursday the capital committee would recommend the board request more engineering work on both routes before selecting a new preferred alternative for the project's environmental impact study.

"It seems clear that the city of Bellevue is serious about a funding partnership that could support (the tunnel). The details need to be worked out," he said. The at-grade (option) could provide excellent service. That is currently affordable while (the tunnel option) is not."

The time to design the tunnel would delay opening light rail in Bellevue by one year. With the delay, Bellevue light rail would instead open in 2021, the same year that light rail would reach the Overlake Transit Center. The extra year could allow Sound Transit to collect another $60 million in tax revenue before the project opens, further reducing costs, according to a staff report.

Another $40-$50 million could be saved by moving the Overlake station north from its planned locaton.

Sound Transit's Board of Directors likely will take up the committee's recommendations on April 22. Several board members said Thursday they still had reservations about the tunnel's added costs.

Doing further engineering on two designs would gain more information so the board can make a better decision, said Ric Ilgenfritz, executive director of planning, project development and environmental affairs.

The financial gap for the tunnel has shrunk enough that "people feel it's worth moving forward," said Claudia Balducci, board member and Bellevue's deputy mayor.

Some other factors to consider among the two potential routes under consideration:

Option B2M - C9T (with downtown tunnel): Would take 12 minutes to get from I-90 to downtown Bellevue -- one minute faster than the current preferred route. Would add 500 more daily boardings in Bellevue. There would be fewer impacts on traffic and buildings, and lessened impacts on parks, wetlands and streams. Noise problems would increase, as would costs.

Option B2M-C11A: (sans tunnel) Would take 15 minutes to get from I-90 to downtown Bellevue. Would add 500 more daily boardings in Bellevue and lessen impacts on traffic, buildings and effects on parks, wetlands and streams. However, it would increase noise impacts.

Whichever option is chosen as a preferred alternative is only preliminary and will be vetted along with several other choices under the project's environmental impact study. That is slated to finish later this year, with a final route to be chosen by early next year.

One of the options in the EIS was requested by the Bellevue City Council. It would run light rail through South Bellevue along Interstate 405 in the abandoned Burlington-Northern Santa Fe right-of-way to avoid disrupting streets in the Surrey Downs neighborhood. Proposed by Councilman Kevin Wallace as part of his "Vision Line," it would skip the South Bellevue Park and Ride, which many boardmembers see as a critical flaw.

The city of Mercer Island also sent a letter to Sound Transit with concerns that if light rail missed the Bellevue Park and Ride, it could cause traffic and riders to be displaced to Mercer Island's park-and-ride station, which will be along the light rail route.